Incinerator



INVENTOR. HENRY d. Loe'wsNvHAL &

l// .b 1,@ My? mV//mv/ H. J. LOEWENTHAL ETAL INCINERATOR Filed Dec. 2, 1954 JAMES E. STAATS THEIR ATTORNEY March 5, 1957 FIG. I

INCINERATOR Henry J. Loewenthal, Bnechel, and James E. Staats, Louisville, Ky., assignors to General Electric Company,

a corporation of New York Application December 2, 1954, Serial No, 472,742 4 Claims. (Cl. 110.-18)

This invention relates to incinerators, and more particularly to domestic incinerators suitable for household use.

One of the household appliances which has been de' veloped to facilitate the disposal of waste material is an incinerator having a heating device such as 1an electric heating unit or a gas fired burner arranged to ignite combustible material placed in a combustion chamber. To insure complete combustion of the material in the chamber it is desirable to continue the energization of the heating device until substantially all of the material has been burned, and since the combustion tirnemay vary from a few minutes to as long as several hours (depending on the type and quantity of waste material) it rhas been found that manual and timer control methods are either inconvenient or uneconomical.

\ Accordingly, a principal object of your invention is to provide an incineratcr having a heating device which is automatically controlled so as to maintain a predetermined minimum temperature in its combustion .chamber during each cycle of operation andto be de-energized after all waste material has burned. Y

Another object of our invention is to provide an incinerator 'having `a heating device which may be manually energized at the beginning of a burning operationand which thereafter is Vautomatically de-energized after the burning operation has been completed.

Further objects .and advantages of ourinvention will become sapparent as the following description proceeds, andthe features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

vBriefly stated, in accordance with one Aaspect of our invention, we provide an inc'inerator having a `manually controlled switch for energizing a'heating element in the combustion chamber, a thermostatic device for independently maintaining the energization of the heating .element so long as the temperature in the chamber remains above a predetermined tempenature, and means for opening the manual switch upon closure of the thermostatic 'switchY For a better understanding of our invention Areference may be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a sectional View of an incineratorembodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing :the electrical components ,and circuit connections of the incinerator shown yin Fig. l.

Referring -.to Fig. l of the dnawing, ,there is shown an incinerator having an insulated top wall 1 formed S70 as .to provide an upstanding backsplasherZ along its leer edge, :an 'insulated rear'wall 3, a perforated bottom wall 4, and a pair of insulated side walls 5. All of these walls are of generally rectangular conguration and enclose a combustion chamber 6 having a front opening which is closed by a hinged door 7. To support waste material in combustion chamber 6 a suitable grate 8 horizontally itl ICC

arranged adjacent the bottom edge of door 7 is provided, and to faciltate the removal of ashes and other noncombustible material falling through grate 8, we provide an ash drawer 9 slidably mounted immediately below the grate and having .an insulated front wall 10. Inas.- much as some of the waste material which accumulates from day to day in the average household must be dehydrated before it will burn, a dehydration drawer 11 having an insulated front wall 12 is mounted in the upper portion of the incinerator over combustion chamber 6. Drawer 11 is open at the rear so that after material placed therein has been dehydrated it may be pushed rearwardly out of the drawer and into the combustion chamber 6.

For the purpose of initiating land maintaining cornbustion in the chamber 6 a heating unit is mounted therein, such as a sheathed heating element 13 secured to rear wall 3 in the lower portion of the chamber. A ilue 14 extends through rear will 3 and is adapted to be lconnected to a chimney or other conduit that will convey the smoke and fumes to the exterior of the house or other structure in which the incinerator is located. If desired a baille 15 may be supported in front of the ilue opening so as to promote thorough mixing and combustion of gases within the combustion chamber.

To prevent accidental opening of door 7 or drawers 10 and 12 we provide an electrically actuated latch mechansm for locking the drawers and door in closed position, which may be in the form, of a latch rod 1.67 provided with latch elements 17, 18 and 19 cooperating with catches 20, 21 and 22 mounted on drawer 10, door 7 and drawer 12 respectively. Latch rod 16 is vshifted vertically between latching and unlatching positions by 'a solenoid 23 located on one of the side walls below bottom wall 4.

Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawing, heating element 1 3, solenoid 23 and a pilot light 24 are connected in an electrical control system with switch mechanism designated generally by the numeral 25, the switch mechanism and pilot light 24 being conveniently located in backsplasher 2 of the incinerator. Heating unit 13, solenoid 23 and pilot light 24 are connected in parallel so as to be energized and dez-energized simultaneously under the control of switching mechanism 25, which is connected in one line ci a two-wire power source L1 .and L2.

Switch mechanism 25 includes an insulated case126 within which is supported a fixed contact arm, 27 which carries a pair of xed contacts 28 and 29. Contacts 2 8 and 29 cooperate with movable contacts 30 and 31 re s pectively, contact 3i) being mounted on the end of a tlexible contact ,arm 32 while contact 31 is mounted .on the end of a contact arm 33 generally parallel to varm 32. Arm 32 is normally positioned so that contacts 30 and 28 are zopen, as shown in Fig. 2, but may be shifted so that these contacts 4are closed by a manually movable member 34 mounted for reciprocating movement into and out of `engagement with `arm 32 by a handle 35. Switch actuating member 34 is `connected to an overcenter leaf spring 36 arranged to bias member 34 either into the position shown in Fig. 2 or into .engagement with arm 32 lin which contacts 28 and 30 are i-n engagement. Arm 33 normally assumes the position shown in Fig. ,2 in which contacts 29 `and 31 .areopen b ut maybe shifted so `as to close these contacts by thermostatic bellows 3.7 associated with a thermostatic bulb 38 located in of combustion chamber 6 so as to respond to the temperature therein. Bellows 37 engages a projecting element 39 on arm 33 and, when the temperature in combustion chamber 6 rises above a predetermined value, shifts contact arm 33 to the left (as viewed in Fig. 2) so as to cause contacts 29 and 31 to close. Thermostatic contacts 29 Yand 31 are set to close at a temperature somewhat above the temperature chamber 6 when it is heated by heater 13 alone, and to reopen when the temperature drops to the latter temperature, indicating that the,l waste material has been completely burned. Movement of arm 33 into the contact closed position causes contacts 2S. and 3th to open since arm 33 carries 'a projecting element itl arranged to engage arm 32 and shift the arm far enough to snap actu-ating member 34 overcenter to its open contact position.

In discussing the operation of the incinerator described above it will first be assumed that a quantity of waste material has been inserted in combustion chamber 6 and that drawers l@ and l2 and door 7 are in closed position.4 The operating cycleI is started by pressing handle 35 so as to cause it to snap overcenter into ti e position in which contacts 23 and 3i) are closed, thus connecting heater 13, solenoid 23 and lamp 2e to lines L1 and L2 so as to energize the heater, operate the solenoid to latched position and turn on pilot `light Zd. Combos tion chamber 6 is then `heated by heating unit E3 to a temperature suiliciently high to cause combustion of the waste material therein (of the order of 250 F., for ex ample), whereupon the heat ot combustion causes the temperature in the chamber to continue to rise to a relatively high value which may be of the order of 1,060" F. During the initial heating period heater i3 is of course energized through contactsi and 3h, but as the teinperature in chamber 6 reaches a value somewhat above the temperature at which combustion is started (of the order of 300 F., for example) bellows 37 shifts contact arm 33 so as to cause contacts 29 and 3l to engage, it being recalled that this movement of `arm 33 opens contacts 2S and 3b by shifting arm 32 far enough to snap actuating member 34 overcenter to its "oi position. So long as the temperature in chamber 6 remains above this predetermined temperature, cnergization of heating unit 13 -is accomplished through contacts 29 and 3l. rather than contacts 2d and 3h. Hence heater 13 will remain energized so as to insure complete combustion of the material in chamber 6 until all of the material has been burned at which time the temperature in the chamber will decrease tothe temperature maintained by Iheater 13 alone, thus causing bellows 37 to contract and to open contacts 29 and Opening of these contacts `cle-energizes the heater 13, solenoid 23 and pilot light 24 socthat the incinerator is conditioned for another cycle of operation.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the heating circuit is energized so long as some combustion continues in chamber 6, thus insuring `a minimum temperature in the chamber suiciently high to ignite relatively slow burning materials, and is automatically drs-energized after combustion of the material in the heating chamber i is completed.

While we have shown and described a particular embodiment of our invention, it will be evident to those skilled in the .art that various changes and modihcations may be made without departing from the invention in lits broader aspects and we therefore aim in the appended claims to cover `all such changes and modications as fall Within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

l. An incineratorcomprising a combustion chamber, an electric heating unit in said chamber, and switch means for controlling the'energization of said heating unit including a first pair of contacts in series with said heating unit, a second pair of contacts in parallel circuit relation with said first pair of contacts and in series with weaves said heating unit, manually operable means for closing said 'first pair of contacts, thermostatic means for closing said second pair of contacts when the temperature in said chamber rises above a predetermined value, and means for opening said iirst pair of contacts upon closure of said second pair of contacts.

2. An electric incinerator comprising a chamber, a door for said chamber, electrically actuated latch means for lock-ing said door, a heating unit in said chamber, and means for energizing said heating unit and said latch means including a manually operable switch in scries with said heating unit, a thermostatic switch responsive to the temperature in said chamber connected in parallel circuit relation with said manually operable switch, said thermostatic switch being constructed and arranged so as to be closed only when said temperature exceeds a predetermined value, and means for opening said manually operable switch upon closure of said thermostatic switch.

3. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber, an electric heating unit in said chamber, and switch means for controlling the energization of said heating unit including a iirst pair of contacts in series with said heating unit, a second pair of contacts in parallel circuit re-` lation with said rst pair of contacts, each of said pairs of contacts including a movable contact mounted on a flexible arm, manually operable means for opening and closing said first pair of contacts including a handle and means for biasing said contacts into closed position upon movement of the handle to one position and into operi position upon movement or the 'handle to another poi sition, thermostatic means for closing said second pair of contacts when the temperature in said chamber rises above a predetermined value, `and means including a link interposed between said liexible arms for opening said first pair of contacts upon closure of said second pair of contacts.

4. An electric incinerator comprising a combustion chamber, a door for said chamber, electrically actuated latch means for locking said door, an electric heating clementin said chamber, and means for simultaneously energizing said heating unit and latch means including a lirst pair of contacts connected in circuit with said heating element and latch means so as to control the supply of current thereto, one of said iirst pair of contacts being mounted on a first flexible Contact ami, a second pair of contacts connected in parallel circuit relation with said first pair o contacts, one of said sec-v ond pair of contacts being mounted on a second flexible contact armgenerally parallel to said first arm, manually operable means for opening and closing said rst pair of contacts including a manually movable member engageable with said iirst arm, thermostatic means including ya temperature responsive element engageable with said second arm for closing said second pair of contacts when the temperature in said chamber rises above a pre determined value, and means including a link interposed between said first and second arms for opening said first pair of contacts upon closure of said second pair of contacts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,065,895 Iandat Dec. 29, 1936 2,276,930 Clark Mar. 17, 1942' 2,385,811 Hotchkiss ---c Oct. 2, 1945 2,684,427 Gross July 20, 1954 v2,693,774 Knowles Nov. 9, 1954 maman. 

